5 Anti-Theft Measures to Make Sure Your Android Stays Yours

We carry it all day long, we check it around 150 times a day, and we use it as a camera, video game console, agenda, calculator, music player, and hard disk. That’s why losing it or getting it stolen is such a drama.

Better safe than sorry. There are some simple measures you can take that can either 1) make it more difficult to get your phone lost/stolen in the first place, or 2) backup your data if that ever happens. Follow them right away to rest easier!

1. Set up a secure screen lock

This the very first step you must take to protect your phone from snoopers and robbers. Set up a pattern, PIN, password or even a face unlock if your device supports it. Whatever keeps people from sticking their nose into your data when you walk away from your phone.

It’s really easy to setup:

Go to Settings

Scroll down and tap “Security”

Enter “Screen lock” (slide is the default)

Select a secure screen lock (Pattern, PIN, Password or Face Unlock)

2. Encrypt your data

This is an optional but highly recommended step if you store sensitive data on your Android device.

Android OS comes with a built-in feature that allows you to encrypt your accounts, settings, downloaded apps and their data, media and other files. Once the data is encrypted, a PIN or password is required to decrypt it each time you power it on. The phone can’t be decrypted by other way than inputting the PIN or performing a factory reset (erasing all the data). In other words, it’s an effective way to avoid anyone snooping on your data.

For encrypting your phone:

Go to Settings

Scroll down and tap “Security”

Tap “Encrypt phone”

Read conditions

Set PIN or password and let it encrypt your data (it takes an hour or more)

3. Backup your data

Keeping your data backed up is a mandatory step for sure. That’s the only way to guarantee your photos, videos, apps, and data stay with you when your phone is suddenly snatched from your grasp.

What you need is an app like Santa Backup, set in an extremely intuitive interface and including neat features to perform backups on a daily/weekly basis.

You can select the categories you want to back up just by ticking the checkboxes: contacts, messages, calls, settings, photo, music, videos and applications. In addition, backups can be automatically uploaded to Dropbox. No add-ons extra features that end up confusing users, just what’s strictly necessary.

4. Install & setup an anti-theft app

This is a key point. Fortunately, cunning developers have come up with comprehensive anti-theft tools that allow us to track our phone, activate alerts, erase data, and even take pictures remotely.

Cerberus was a pioneer within the category, and it’s still one of the most downloaded and valued by users today. That’s no coincidence. Cerberus is an intuitive and full-featured app which really can help you get back your phone.

Cerberus can be controlled via SMS or web browser. It allows a bunch of actions, such as tracking your phone’s position in real time, locking/unlocking the screen, activating an alarm with a message, recording audio, taking a picture when thief makes actions (such as inputting an incorrect lockscreen pattern), wiping device storage, and many other actions. Cerberus offers a 1-week trial and, after that, you can purchase a lifetime license for $4. Totally worth it.

5. Get alerted when you walk away from your phone

We have talked about built-in and software anti-theft measures so far. There are also some interesting hardware solutions that keep you from losing your phone.

Cobra Tag is a tiny keychain gadget that alerts you when you get too far away from your phone (or any other compatible valuable). It works this way: you install this app on your Android device and set up location features. It automatically beeps when you walk away your phone. In addition, Cobra Tag has a button to make your phone ring manually, which is really useful to find it when you know it has to be around, somewhere (under the couch cushions?). It costs around $40.